Noteworthy

The celebration was held at a recent 1 Million Cups Cherokee meeting.

Five Years and Counting

The Cherokee Office of Economic Development (COED), the Woodstock Office of Economic Development (WOED), Chattahoochee Technical College and nearly 50 guests from Cherokee’s entrepreneurial community recently celebrated The Circuit Woodstock’s fifth anniversary at 1 Million Cups Cherokee (1MC) — a biweekly event that offers local entrepreneurs an opportunity to showcase their startups while gaining real-time feedback.

The Circuit is Cherokee’s first coworking space and Chatt Tech’s student center. The space was founded in collaboration with COED, WOED and the school as an innovation hub for entrepreneurs, students and the community. Also available within the 3,000-square-foot coworking space is locally roasted Alma Coffee at Circle of Friends Coffee Shop at The Circuit Cafe.

Since the project’s launch in 2017, Cherokee has become home to four collaborative coworking spaces — a growing ecosystem that includes The Circuit, The Innovation Spot, The Oak House and Thrive.

To get connected with The Circuit and learn more about Cherokee’s thriving entrepreneurial community, visit circuitwoodstock.com or email info@cherokeega.org.

All in a Day’s Work Young Maya has decided she wants to be a police officer when she grows up. The 7-year-old made that proclamation after spending time with Woodstock Police Officer Ledarrion Poole as she and her mom, Alesea, waited for a tow truck. Alesea’s post on Facebook said it all: “Thank you for playing Pokémon and bakugan with my daughter Maya while I waited for a tow truck after being involved in an accident. … She couldn’t stop talking about you after we left and has since decided she will grow up to be a police officer.”

Georgia’s First Special Olympics DanceSport Team

Cherokee County Special Olympics is excited to have the first DanceSport team under Special Olympics Georgia (SOGA). DanceSport is a newly sanctioned sport for Special Olympics North America (SONA) and currently is in two states: Utah and Georgia.

Special Olympics, founded by Eunice Kennedy Shriver in 1968, is the world's largest sports organization for children and adults with intellectual disabilities, providing year-round training and competitions for more than 5.3 million athletes and Unified Sports partners in nearly 170 countries.

Four individuals have been advocating for this sport for three years: Laura Mikszan, LaBlast master trainer for Georgia; Louis Van Amstel, world dance champion and recurring star of “Dancing with the Stars”; and Amy Aenchbacher and Dave Martinez, local coordinators for Cherokee County Special Olympics.

“It is exciting to see Laura use her passion and talents to provide competitive dance opportunities for special Olympians in our community, state and beyond,” Martinez said.

Mikszan is the creator of Warriors of Wonder, a group that focuses on overall fitness for individuals with disabilities. She also created and leads the Warrior Cats dance group, which will be competing with Cherokee County Special Olympics at local, state and national levels.

“We are grateful to Louis and Laura’s efforts. DanceSport will offer opportunities for our athletes to improve their fitness while expressing themselves through the art of dance,” Aenchbacher said.

Lemmy’s Lemonade’s Ryan and Melinda Tran, joined by their parents, won best overall stand.

Second place for best-tasting lemonade went to Strawberry Sisters’ Ella Richmond, left, and Elizabeth McCloskey.

Leading the Way in Lemonade

With 78 young entrepreneurs manning lemonade stands across the county last month, the Cherokee Chamber of Commerce proclaimed Lemonade Day Cherokee County 2022 (Aug. 6) a success. The students took part in a global national youth entrepreneurship program that teaches students in third through fifth grades leadership and business skills, by encouraging them to create a lemonade stand.

“Since 2007, more than 1 million students have learned about business ownership by participating in the National Lemonade Day effort. The Cherokee County Chamber was pleased to launch Lemonade Day Cherokee County this year and hopes to grow the program in years to come,” Chamber Board Chair Brian Stevens said.

During the four-hour window, 80 visitors checked out the stands, some of which were set up at the Cherokee Recreation and Parks annex in Woodstock, where a competition was held for best-tasting lemonade and best overall lemonade stand.

For best-tasting lemonade, first place went to Main Squeeze Lemonade and sisters Emma Shellhouse and Isabelle Abley; in second place was Strawberry Sisters Lemonade, with Ella Richmond and Elizabeth McCloskey; third place was given to Rosemary, Love & Lemons, run by Alyssa Sweatland. The best overall lemonade stand award went to Lemmy’s Lemonade, created by the brother-sister duo Ryan and Melinda Tran.